Sports

New Videos Reveal Immediate Aftermath Of The Alleged Argument Between Joe Buck And Troy Aikman On MNF

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Joe Buck Troy Aikman Argument Monday Night Football ESPN Contract Pat McAfee
iStockphoto / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman reportedly got into an argument prior to Monday Night Football. New videos from pregame show the immediate aftermath of the alleged interaction.

Make of them what you will.

It sounds like the longest-tenured broadcast duo in NFL history had it out in Los Angeles during what could be their final season together. Unfortunately, the Zapruder film of the actual verbal dispute has yet to be released.

Joe Buck signed a new contract with ESPN, Troy Aikman did not.

The partnership between Troy Aikman and Joe Buck began in 2002. They called games together on Sundays for Fox Sports before they made the move to ESPN’s Monday Night Football in 2022. They called six Super Bowls with Fox and are scheduled to call Super Bowl LXI in February. It will be their seventh Super Bowl broadcast together and ESPN’s first.

It might also be their last. Key word: “might.”

Buck signed a six-year, $108 million contract extension with ESPN in September 2026. His $18 million per year is up from his previous $15 million. He will remain as the primary voice of Monday Night Football through 2032. The network’s next scheduled Super Bowl is for 2031.

Aikman has not yet received a formal extension offer from ESPN. The three-time Super Bowl champion is in the final year of his five-year $90 million contract as the color commentator for Monday Night Football. He is making $18 million per year.

There has been a lot of (unfounded) chatter in recent weeks about the potential of Pat McAfee taking over. McAfee shut that down.

In the meantime, Aikman and Buck supposedly had it out prior to Monday’s game between Los Angeles and Buffalo. Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported that it was the latter who addressed the unspoken tension with the latter, which led to a brief spat between them.

New video reveals the immediate aftermath of the Monday Night Football argument.

I watched the entire Monday Night Football broadcast. I couldn’t tell that Troy Aikman and Joe Buck were fighting. The viewer at home couldn’t recognize any tangible friction on the broadcast. Nothing was different.

ESPN’s highest-paid broadcasters were able to keep it professional. It sounds like they moved on pretty quickly. Here is some additional context:

Three new videos of Aikman and Buck during pregame also add to the lore. Flea Flicker Football, the X user who captured all three of the videos, claims “Buck and Aikman were standing near the MNF Countdown set for around an hour before going up to the booth but weren’t seen together or speaking to each other.” I don’t know if that is normal. It could be nothing.

The first video shows Aikman on set.

The second shows him before he went up to the booth.

The third video shows Buck talking with his wife, Michelle, on the field.

Buck also appeared on Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday night. He seemed fine.

Make of these videos what you will. Buck has a new contract. Aikman does not. Perhaps this “argument” will push ESPN to sign Monday Night Football’s color commentator to a new deal sooner than later. Maybe it is the beginning of the end. We’ll see!